The Government has been urged to immediately withdraw a proposal to spend €9 million on mobile phone pouches for secondary schools.
The 'Keeping Childhood Smartphone Free' proposal was included in Budget 2025, which was announced earlier this week, and would see the money allocated towards storage for post-primary school students' mobile phones during school hours.
Yesterday Minister for Education Norma Foley defended the policy and described it as a positive, proactive step that would allow students to have a mental break from their phones and allow them to learn without distraction.
However Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has written to Taoiseach Simon Harris calling for the plan to be abandoned immediately.
She called the decision a "scandalous waste of public money at a time when so many schools are struggling to pay for heating and to keep the lights on".
In a statement, Ms McDonald said there was "huge anger" among the public over the decision.
She said it was the latest example of the "squandering of taxpayers' money" following controversy over the cost of the new National Children's Hospital, as well as spending on building a new bike shelter and security office at Leinster House.
Speaking on RTÉ's Six One news, Minister for Education Norma Foley said national and international research suggests there is no place for mobile phones in schools.
Asked why €9 million was being spent on the initiative, she said "a huge percentage of reading and learning time is lost" from teachers confiscating phones in classrooms and this initiative is a once-off, "the equipment will be owned by the school - not by the student, not by the parent - so therefore, it will be used year after year after year".
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'A problem that's already under control' - ASTI
ASTI General Secretary Kieran Christie said Ms Foley is "spending quite an amount of money solving a problem that's already under control".
Speaking to RTÉ's News at One, Mr Christie said he has spoken with several teachers who have told him they already have effective measures in place to deal with the issue of mobile phone use during school hours.
He said it would have been better if the minister had engaged with stakeholders in schools to discuss the issue "before splashing this enormous amount of cash".
He said nobody was denying that the use of phones during school hours is a problem that needs to be addressed, but that there are more pressing issues facing schools.
"There are more significant priorities in our cash-strapped schools around classroom materials, heat and light, buses for football matches, special education," he said.
"It's being portrayed as a mental health issue. If you want to deal with mental health issues, you should restore and improve the pastoral support mechanisms that are in schools, not splash €9 million on pouches that are unnecessary in the vast majority of schools."
Mr Christie said that while upwards of €12 billion was due to be invested in education, there was "no scope for wastage".
He said the Government should reallocate the funds and should engage with stakeholders on issues relating to mental health on a less superficial level.
Yesterday, Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon labelled the decision as "a scandalous waste of money".
On Tuesday, when the Budget was announced, Teachers Union of Ireland President David Waters said that there were "far bigger issues" than the issue of smartphones in schools.
Irish National Teachers' Organisation General Secretary John Boyle said it appeared the Government was prioritising the rollout of the 'Keeping Childhood Smartphone Free' programme over the more pressing needs of schools and their teachers and students.
